


Calm

by dorkpatroller



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sort Of, leo is emotionally compromised by the whole situation, niles is just so tired, nina is a baby, sort of a getting together fic, the struggles of suddenly being a dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 20:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkpatroller/pseuds/dorkpatroller
Summary: Finding a baby girl and taking her in is harder work than Niles anticipated. Leo anticipated it, but he hates that Niles is trying to do it all on his own. So tonight Leo is putting his foot down and helping Niles catch up on some much needed rest.





	Calm

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of a gift for @birbmeow because she drew so much soft leoniles the other day and it made me want to write sleepy niles so badly i had to.

It’s easy to see by that look in his eye how tired Niles really is. He tries to hide it every morning behind a sideways smile and a report on his duties for the day. He tries to act like he’s not drained and living on the fumes of energy he used to be brimming with. 

Leo knows it's because he’s doing it alone. When Niles found her two weeks ago she was crying in a small ditch. They were traveling back from a brief mission at the time. Odin heard her first. He asked if anyone heard crying, and then Niles wandered off the path to chase after the sound. She was laying in the dirt and mud with no explanation. They came to find she was just abandoned there.

Leo saw him fall in love with her in slow motion. Niles picked up that little girl and she stopped crying and became curious. Her hair was dirty then, and her eyes were puffy and red, but she looked at Niles and she smiled. Leo knew in the moment that he wasn’t going to let her go so easily.

They took her back to the castle with them and a nursemaid looked over her. She bathed her, fed her some mashed vegetables, and dressed her in clothes leftover from when Elise was young. They guess that she’s about a year old. Niles kept asking about her, checking in on her. She adopted _him_ , not the other way around. In only a few hours it was obvious that his entire world had changed.

Leo understands why Niles did it. He sees himself in that baby, abandoned by her family and left for dead. Leo understands that plenty. What he doesn’t understand is why he’s doing it alone. He doesn’t ask for help. Odin has offered to watch her at least three times just in front of Leo. To let Niles get some rest. He just smiles and says he might take him up on it later, but he never does.

Leo decides to take matters into his own hands. That’s why he finds himself walking down the hall that leads to Niles’s quarters. It’s late, he’s long since off duty for the day. Niles certainly isn't expecting him. Before Leo even gets to Niles’s door he can hear her. She’s crying again. Leo hesitates only a moment before he knocks.

Niles answers with Nina propped against his shoulder. She’s whining but her eyes are dry. Niles’s eye seems a touch damp but Leo doesn’t say a word. He’s just tired. He looks so run down, so drained. The color has gone from his face, his eye is dull… but he looks at Leo like he could fight another war for him that very moment if he had to. “Milord? Is everything alright?” 

Nothing is alright. Niles has been distant now because he’s trying to adjust to being a  _ father _ . It’s not a crime, but Leo hates that he would sooner face it all alone than ask for help. Especially of him. He thought they had been through this. He thought Niles understood the way Leo feels about him. 

“I came to check on you,” Leo says. He looks at Nina. She’s still whining, but she's truly a wonderful sight. She looks so much healthier already since the day they found her. Tonight she won't cry because she's hopeless, only because she's tired. She's just as tired as Niles is--overly exhausted and having a fit because of it. She just needs to be held and rocked. Leo imagines that's what Niles has been doing, but… “Do you need a hand?” 

“Yes,” Niles says. His breath leaves him. Leo steps into the room and closes the door behind him. Nina hiccups out another cry at the sound. 

“What can I do?” Leo asks, softer. Niles looks at him and it’s heartbreaking to see him look so completely lost. 

“Just… Watch Nina. Just for a moment.” Niles gently shifts her from his hold and into Leo’s waiting arms. He’s… awkward at best. Leo hasn’t held a baby in years. Worse yet this isn’t a newborn, she’s not easy to hold. She’s got fight in her  and she squirms and protests the sudden change. 

Leo isn’t sure what he expects _Niles_ to do when he asks him to hold her. Maybe go lay down, or wash his face. But as soon as Nina is settled in Leo’s hold Niles folds his arms around Leo’s shoulders. He lays his cheek on him there, until his forehead is nearly resting against Leo’s cheek. Just right there, standing in the middle of the room. 

“Niles,” Leo begins, flustered. “I… Are you quite alright?” 

“Mhmm.” 

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” he orders right away. Niles chuckles low in his throat in response. Leo’s heart stutters in his chest. It’s such an affectionate sound he just made. Was that really meant for him? Perhaps Niles  _ does _ understand, then, and he’s just been distracted. 

Nina calms down remarkably fast. Maybe it’s the way Leo’s heart is beating out of his chest that lulls her to sleep, but her breathing evens out swiftly. Niles’s breathing slows down too, but… 

“Niles, go to bed,” Leo says. “I’ll lay her down for you.” 

“Mm, but I’m so comfortable right here, milord. You smell nice.” 

Leo’s cheeks turn dark. What a silly thing to get flustered over. All of this is absurd. “Niles, I am  _ ordering  _ you to go lay down. Now.” 

It’s actually the worst feeling in the world when Niles obeys. He steps away from Leo and the air grows cold where he was moments ago. He’s no longer hanging off of him like a weight, but Leo realizes that was a comfortable weight. It was the most affection Niles has let himself show. It was like, for a moment, all of his walls were down. He wasn’t afraid to bring shame upon Leo or afraid to hurt him in some way or some other groundless excuse. 

Leo wanders to the small crib that Niles has in his room now, for Nina. He lays her down and pulls a thin blanket up over her legs. She coos in her sleep but doesn’t wake. 

“It’s because you’re so calm, you know,” Niles mumbles. Leo glances over to his bed to see Niles laying on his pillow, rolled onto his side and studying every move Leo makes. It's for that reason Leo’s next move is to walk to Niles’s bed and take a seat on the very edge of it. It is his turn to be daring for a moment, and to bring them closer. Niles seems just a touch surprised… but he doesn’t let it bother him. “We were both on edge, but you were calm. It made her sleep. Made me sleepy too.”

“Then I hope you’ll let me help you again, need be,” Leo says. “You’re no good to me when you’re not at your best.” 

Nile scoffs. Leo’s lips curl into a reserved smile. Then Niles reaches out and twists his fingers into Leo’s. He holds his hand like a lifeline and it’s so overwhelmingly warm.

“I’ll be more open with what I need, from now on,” Niles promises. 

Leo’s chest tightens. “I would appreciate that bit of honesty.” 

Niles pulls Leo’s fingers to his lips. He kisses them one at a time, but then he closes his eye and breathes out a sleepy sigh. Leo’s heart is in his throat. Does that mean something more? This promise must be about something beyond Nina. It can’t simply be his vow to tell Leo when he needs a babysitter.  He wants to ask him.  _ Does this mean you’ll let us be together, now? _ But he can’t ask. Niles’s breathing is a slow tempo. He’s fallen asleep. It’s so rare to see him sleep, especially in front of others… it simply goes to show how tired he truly was.

“Goodnight,” Leo whispers to him. He stands to walk out of his room, and on his way out he snuffs out the candlelight. He closes the door on Niles and Nina, and he walks through the halls back to his own room. 

It is the very first of many, many times Leo will put his daughter to bed, or watch Niles fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thank you so much for reading this. I just set up my new patreon and ko-fi so please check that out if you get a chance. Also if you don't already go find me on twitter @dorkpatroller because i'm funny sometimes. B)


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